Unfamiliar
by Eating Tarts
Summary: OC/AU (maybe) I was alone. I will be alone. He and I have a relationship one step from each other. serious type of writing. may tend to get boring.
1. Chapter 1

I was always alone.

... And I will always be alone.

That was what I thought before he and I met.

The thought still hasn't changed even after he and I met.

"We have a new transfer student. Please welcome him with open arms."

"My name is Edward Cullen. Glad to meet you."

Normal was what I thought he would be the first time I saw him, more or less. I stared out the window at that time, only seeing the silhouette of the transfer student reflected on the dark window. The silhouette was smudged by the rain that would never stop.

"Please sit an empty sit near the window."

I think the teacher's lecture was like background music. The sound of the rain was louder, trampling over the teacher's voice ever so gently.

I didn't know at that time that he sat next to me in every class we had together. It took me a while to realize that simple fact. It wasn't very surprising since the first time we talked to each other was after a month after he and his family moved in and the day another transfer student came.

I used to listen to music all the time. Most of them didn't have lyrics. I would sometimes make up lyrics to fit the song, very occasional though.

If I recall correctly, I sat next to the table Cullens sat in. I didn't purposely observe but I think they thought I was watching them with a purpose. When I rethink about that time, I wasn't very close to them. Well, technically speaking, I wasn't close to anyone. Even the relationship between him and I was a step away from each other.

The day we first talked to each other was a turning point in my life. A new discovery of the world that I do not want to know. Before the incident that turned my life, I had a chat with my mother in the kitchen table.

My house was like any other house. If anything was particular, except the things we mostly used, like the kitchen, the bathroom, and the rooms me and Irina used, nothing else was touched. There were no pictures hanging on the wall. The plastic on the sofa wasn't removed. The television was never turned on. Irina and I were bound together by the name of 'family' but I never felt the affection or the aloofness. Irina tried to be friendlier in the past. Trying to be more optimistic most of the time. I think she got tired of acting that way when I told her on the tenth birthday not to act anymore.

My family might sound dull, but that does not mean that I am not depressed. I enjoy the way I live. Just because there are no conversations between Irina and I doesn't necessarily mean that we are not close. Irina fulfills her duty as a parent to me and I respond correctly, more or less. She understands that I have a hard time understanding the reason to express my emotions and thoughts to others. As time passed, we gradually adapted to the stillness that formed around us.

"I feel bored, Irina."

"Life isn't always so exciting."

This is my mother, Irina. Irena means peace in Russian. She was originally Korean, but changed her name when she met my father. My father died before I was born. Irina doesn't like to talk about him but I heard the rumors. He was murdered the day before my birthday. Tragic? Not really

"There was a new transfer student today."

"Did you get along?"

"Not really. I didn't see her face."

"A girl?"

"Yes, I think. She seemed shy and almost tripped when she was walking toward her desk."

"Did she get hurt?"

"She didn't but she was really red and attention catching."

"Oh, really? She must be the Mr. Swan's daughter then. I heard that she moved into town yesterday or so to live with her father."

Irina seems agitated today. Silence is what fits us the most. If she is this talkative today, then it must be the day before my birthday.

"Irina. It's today isn't it?"

Irina's shoulder stiffened. The sound of her preparing dinner could no longer be heard. Her husband's death occurred on that very day. It was funny for some reason. That the day the transfer student came was the day a man was murdered. I don't really care whether or not my biological father was murdered before the day I was born. I'm just glad that Irina no longer cries in front of me. That kind of situation is hard to handle.

"I'm going out."

"Be back before 10 o'clock."

Avoiding the situation will give the impression that I am running away. I cannot disagree with that. I am running away from Irina's tears. In a time like this, I would take a hike.

I told you that I lack the skill of showing emotions, inside and out. But everybody has a hobby and mine was hiking without a goal and a road. Walking and taking pictures for hours and hours. I often got lost because of this habit but soon got used to it.

Maybe my bizarre preference was the reason why we were brought together, Edward Cullen and I. I will not call the meeting of the two of us fate. It was more of a coincidental meeting. A meeting no one cares, more or less. I didn't for sure. I wouldn't care if this damned life was just a lie.

Who would have thought that an instinctive animal, even though humans are partly rational, would walk straight into a hunting ground of vampires? Guess I lack instincts.

"This is... something."

"Who are you?"

"Just a passerby. Enjoy whatever you were doing."

I did say to enjoy but what they were doing didn't seem so enjoyable. There was a twitching body of a mountain lion lying on the ground. The lion looked drenched; the outlines of the muscles could be seen. It looked like a large amount of blood had been sucked out. I took a picture of that unconsciously. I realized my action after he broke my Nikon D5200 with his bare hand, crushing the lens and ultimately the memory. I looked down upon his pale hands with bits of my camera's ruins stuck to it.

"You owe me a camera. This was my birthday present."

"I just spared your life. I think that is more priceless than a mere camera."

"I value my camera over my life. If you are going to kill me, can you kill me two days away from now?"

"Why should I?"

"My biological father died today. Two days from now is the day after my birthday. I think my mother deserves a day of happiness in between the despairs."

His eyes softened a bit after hearing my story. I didn't tell him my situation to earn sympathy. I mean what I say. My mother does deserve a day of happiness.

"What's your name?"

"Edward Cullen. You don't seem to be scared of me."

"Should I be?"

"Normal humans are scared of the unknown and death. You don't seem to be scared of any of them."

"I'm scared. But that doesn't mean that I have to show my emotions to you."

"You're lying. I can read others pretty well and you really are not scared of me."

"Am I really not scared of you? How can you be so sure? Are you really reading me or are you just looking at the outer skin? Don't mess with people, Cullen."

"You really are an unusual human. It's surprising how calm you are."

"And you're not even a human at all. What are you?"

"I don't have the obligation to tell you what I am."

"I can tell you are not human. I have an evidence right in front of my eyes. You still owe me a camera."

"I'll give a new one for your birthday. See you at school."

"Fine, but you have to give me the same model. I liked this one."

Then, he just disappeared. Out of my sight, just like that. I didn't even see him move but he must have gotten away so quickly that I couldn't follow him with naked human eyes.

I walked slowly back home. Since he broke my camera into shatters, I let the remains hanging on my neck and enjoyed the scenery. Since I can't take pictures, I better should let the scenes soak into my mind, so that I could always remember this scene.

I later realized that the only scene that bore into my mind was the scene of the blood sucked animal that Edward Cullen preyed on.

The day he talked back to me was a week after the incident. The day I asked him to kill me, if he had to, passed without trouble.

To be honest, I forgot that he owed me a camera. I forgot probably because I didn't see him for a whole week. I tend to forget if the object isn't in front of my eyes. Out of sight, out of mind. My birthday present this year was a tattoo on my back. Despite how I described Irina, she loves exotic materials. She says it is like a photo permanently drawn on my back. The tattooist drew me a set of black wings on my back last week. Irina commented that it made me look like an angel. I never told her that this birthday present might become the last one she will give to me.


	2. Chapter 2

Edward Cullen didn't come to kill me, but he did come to my room late at night for a little chat.

"It's rude to come to a lady's room late at night, Cullen."

"Were you expecting me to come?"

"No. It was just an assumption. A mystery easy to solve. The only one who would come through the window without making a sound would be the one who isn't a 'normal' human. Am I wrong?"

"You really are an exceptional human."

"Are you here to murder me just like that mountain lion?"

"My family no longer touches or interferes with humans. That would only provoke the monster within me."

"Then why would you threaten me a week ago."

"When we are 'hunting' our instincts suppress our rationality."

"So you really aren't a human."

"Don't have some questions you want to ask? Like…"

"Who you are? Not really. People have their own mud puddles to worry about. I have my own and I am too busy and messy to worry about you. You are just an 'outsider' that is trying to dirty me more. I'd rather have no relationship with you whatsoever."

"What an unfamiliar type of human you are. Interesting. I am very sorry to say but it seems like I am not in yours but you are in mine."

It took me a few seconds to comprehend the meaning of his words. I could make out that days of my hushed life will get noisy whatever the reason is.

"Shit. What a mess I am in."

He laughed a quiet laugh, so quiet that I could barely hear them. Like a drizzle of rain. A shower ever so quick that no one can realize it was raining for that short moment. I wasn't captivated by his laugh but I was curious. What made him to laugh this quietly? Is he like me? Unable to show emotion or does he not believes in the concept of emotion itself?

"I didn't have the moment to ask your name."

"Kay, Kay Alkaev."

"I heard you were part Russian and part Korean, your name doesn't sound like either of them."

"It was the name my father wanted me to have. He wanted me to have a free life. His family didn't agree to my parent's marriage. He wanted me to be free of both countries."

"It is not just you, but your whole family seems to be separated from the whole world."

There was a break of silence in my room. Neither of us talked. I closed my eyes and reopened them. It was a blink but he disappeared in that short moment like the time we had first met. The curtains in my room swayed along with the wind. I let out a short breathe. Then breathed in the fresh air the night has brought me. I felt like I was out of the mud puddle for a short while. Breathing in the air that the mud didn't pollute, a scent of him left a trace in the wind. I feel excited, though I cannot definite this emotion called 'excitement' but I get the feeling it will be something that will not be 'normal'.

The night seems quieter than usual. The unexpected guest has turned the table around.

It's morning again. I wake up with the sound of rain knocking on my window. It's a new day. But it is also the end of weekdays. Today is Friday, my favorite day of the week.

"Hello."

"Hey. It was unexpected for you to say 'hi' to me."

"We are in the same puddle. I figured it would be nice for us to get along."

His straight mouth turned into a crooked smile. It was a crooked but I could tell no other smile can beat this one. To be clear, I haven't fallen, I am still in my mud puddle.

"I wouldn't really like to be in the same mud puddle as yours. Yours is frozen. No one else can be with you."

"It seems like you have figured out who we are."

"Sort of. But I have no intension of telling you what I think."

"I have the capability to read you but you are a complex book to read. It is hard to know the meanings of what you are thinking."

I could see my dead eyes reflected on his golden eyes. They seem to have shine brighter than the time I saw him in the woods.

"Here's your camera. I have cleared my debt but you haven't cleared yours."

He handed my replacement camera into my hands. I knotted my eyebrows as I felt the frostiness of his hands. He swiftly withdrew his hand away from mine. Because his hands hastily moved away and I was paying attention to him, the camera fell toward the ground. I was reaching out for the camera and Edward Cullen was faster. He held the camera and passed it to me, careful not to touch my hand this time. Seeing him being timid was and awkward experience for me. I had only seen him twice but he didn't seem like the type to be considerate of others.

"I didn't know I had a debt to you."

I changed the subject to shrug off this uncomfortable feeling from the edge of my throat. He leaned closer to my ear. I then remembered that he was good at reading others and 'others' include me too. He smiled and I only caught a glimpse of it but I could tell I was already captivated by the aura he let out to prey on me. I could smell his scent coming of his cheek which was right beside me. My legs felt like they were going to crumble to bits like my broken camera. He held my waist in order to hold me still. I could tell we were causing a commotion in the school parking lot. But the other student's whispers were like a buzz with no tune. A day without rain.

"Your life is your debt to me. I saved you once but don't expect me to save you once more in this current state."

I felt my soft fuzzy hair on my face stand straight up as I felt his cold skin's radiation of chilliness. His breathe on my ear let out an aromatic scent that not a single cell on my body could resist. Fighting to regain control, I murmured before he can manipulate me farther.

"You really are the most exquisite, yet the most dangerous creature on Earth, Edward Cullen."

"And you are the most remarkable human, Kay Alkaev. You stand outside of my anticipation for humans."

"I will receive that as a comment."

"And I will receive yours as a comment as well."

Edward Cullen uncurled his back and walked away from me. I stood their mindlessly following his back mechanically. I might have gotten myself into a deeper mess than I thought.

What broke me out of my hazy mind was the sound of a truck parking beside me.


End file.
